


Color

by Codi_Shepherd



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Everyone shows up eventually, F/M, I'm just in the hospital way too much, M/M, Not Abandoned, OT12 - Freeform, Other, there will be appearances by others, very slow updates, will add more tags as I think of them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-25
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2018-05-23 05:04:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6105820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Codi_Shepherd/pseuds/Codi_Shepherd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone dreams in black in white. At least, until you find your soulmate. Tao found his when he was still a child, but his family left the country and his soulmate behind. Years later, he's moving back, hoping to find him again.</p>
<p>OR</p>
<p>Tao misses the color in his dreams and goes to search for the source.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfiction on AO3, this is loosely based on a book I'm in the process of getting published, and between that and college, my updates will be slow. This will, hopefully, be a very long fic, I love comments so feel free to leave them. This will start out slow, but I like to think that its needed, please bear with me until it picks up.

Everyone dreams in black and white. Everyone. Until, one day, they don’t anymore. One day, no one knows when it’ll happen, you start dreaming in color. Some people never dream in color. You dream in black and white until you meet your soul-mate. You don’t know who it is, only that when you meet them your dreams finally have color. But it only happens on the night that see them, that’s how you find out who it is. Find that one person that gives you color in your dreams every night and you’ll have found the one you belong with for the rest of your life.

This doesn’t happen for everyone though; sometimes you’ll have color in your dreams one night and then spend the rest of your life searching for the one person you met in passing on a random weekday afternoon to never find them again. Those are the people I feel sorry for the most; not the people that haven’t met their soul-mates yet, but the people that have; only to have lost them for the rest of forever. At least if you never meet him or her then you’ll never know what you’re missing out on.

I know that pain, I met mine when I was a little kid, he was just some random kid that I happened to meet one day out on vacation in South Korea, and I haven't seen him since. I think that was close to ten years ago. It hurts so much to dream in color for a week and then go back home and never have it again., I miss those dreams. Sometimes, in my dreams, I can still see his face; that adorable grinning face as he laughed at my fumbled Korean. I remember laughing even harder at his, he wasn't even Korean; he was Chinese-Canadian, and he had the nerve to laugh at my little mistakes, I was nine. I wonder if he ever thinks about me, or if he misses his dreams as much as I miss mine.

I'm going to find him again, even if it takes me nine years; I'm going back to South Korea this summer. For school, but I'll be looking for him in my free time. He told me that his family went there every summer, so I'm hoping I'll bump into him. I just want my color back.

"Tao!" My mother yelled from the kitchen. She always seemed determined to make me socialize, even if it's just getting me out of my room and in the same room as regular, breathing people. "Get down here and help set the table for dinner."

I sighed and got up from my bed, stopping my music in the process, and made my way down the stairs. Our house wasn't small, but it wasn't huge either; just large enough for my brother and I to get our own rooms as well as one for our parents.Mom was against me going back ti search for him, but Dad was helping me finance it. He always supported me more than she did, she thought that if we were meant to be then we would find each other again. That's obviously what I planned to do, that was the whole point of my trip; although she thinks I'm only going for school - which is only part of the truth.

She and Dad were perfect for each other; they never had to worry like I currently am. They'd been raised together, so they always knew that they belonged together. My brother, Luhan, and I haven't been so lucky. I think he's a bit luckier than I am at the moment though, he dreamed in color last night. He was so excited that he woke up in the middle of the night, so excited that he had to wake me up to tell me the good news. I 'calmly' reminded him that he could have just as easily waited until morning to tell me instead of waking me in the middle of the night to tell me something that could have obviously waited until then. I then promptly shoved him out of my room and went back to bed, our house was scary at night. He's hoping for it to happen again tonight, I'm actually rooting for him.

Mom had already put the plates on the table, along with the silverware, all I had to do was put them at our seats and wait for her to set the food on the table so I could serve that as well. This was such a routine that I could have done it in my sleep, I set the table and serve the food and Luhan cleans up and we both do dishes, it's been set in our routine since we were ten.

"Why do you always yell at me to set the table and then put the stuff on the table anyway?" I ask my mom as she comes into the dining room with her arms full of food. I go to take some from her and put it on the table while waiting for her to reply.

She wipes her hands on her apron and says, "You take too long to get down here, so I save us both some time by putting it on the table for you; helps us all out."

I feel myself smile at her comment before splitting the food between plates while she goes and gets Dad and Luhan. She doesn't always act like it, but she really does care about me, she just has a hard time showing it; unless it's buying me Gucci, I love my Gucci. Like the time I quit basketball and began wushu, she always complained about not having two athletes for sons until I spoke up; asking her that wouldn't be better to have at least one son that knows how to defend himself instead of just knowing how to make a layup or dribble a ball. She started having me show Luhan some moves after that.

It's not every day that we can all sit down at the table together for dinner, it's either Luhan has choir or track practice or something, or Dad has to stay late at work, or me needing to attend my wushu class; I've got one more test before I reach black belt - it's next week. It's nice when we finally do get time together, it's just talking about how our week went that I hate. I've learned to tune it out by now, at least until they ask me to talk; I always dread it. So. . . I lie. They don't need to know that I always have my mind on the boy, or that I'm only top of my class because I tell myself that Dad would never let me go unless my grades were perfect, how else am I going to go to college over there without the grades to back me up?

When dinner is over, I wait for Luhan to finish clearing the table before I start the dishwater, I start washing as he dries and puts away.

"You seemed distracted at dinner," he comments quietly. Mindful that I don't like explaining things to him in front of Mom and Dad. "Something on your mind?"

I glance at him to see that he's acting really interested in the plate he's drying before I say, "I just can't stop thinking about him, I keep wondering if I'll ever find him or if this whole trip is just going to be one big bust."

He stops drying the plate to look up at me as he says, "You'll find him, I know you will." He puts the plate away and grabs another before he continues. "If anyone can find their soul-mate, it's you. I mean, come on, you met him when we were nine, you guys were like the best of friends the whole week we were there, if that doesn't mean anything then I don't know what does."

I stop what I'm doing to give him a look and say, "But I can't even remember his name." I look back down at the dishwater and mumble, "What if he doesn't remember me? Or I can't find him? I don't know what to do anymore."

Luhan puts his hand on my shoulder, causing me to stop what I'm doing as he turns me to look at him, his light brown eyes full of love and hope. "I know what you're going to do. You are going to go to South Korea, you are going to find him, and you two are going to live happily ever after." He stops to laugh and adds, "Well, maybe not ever after, but you'll at least be happy again."

I smile at him before turning back to the dishes and saying, "If I'm going to find my boy, then you better figure out who your girl is, you don't want to end up like me and have to wait ten years to find her again." He mumbled something under his breath that I couldn't hear, so I shut the water off - I was done anyway, and turned to him and said, "Could you please repeat that? I couldn't quite hear you."

He gives a sigh before speaking up, "I actually think it might be a guy."

I grinned at him, handing him the last dish after I rinsed it off before saying, "Well, that makes it easier for you doesn't it?"

He smiled as he nodded before giving a small frown and asking, "But what about Mom and Dad? They don't know I'm gay. It's different for you, we've all known you were gay since we were nine."

I laughed at him, he really didn't know, did he? "Lulu, it doesn't matter what Mom and Dad think, this is your soul-mate we're talking about. And I'm pretty sure that Dad already knows, he keeps dropping hints to me that he knows, but he's trying to do it without Mom noticing, I don't think he's smart enough to do it when she's not around."

He gave me a look of disbelief before putting the plate away, tossing the dish towel on the counter and leaning against it before finally speaking, "Does he really? Why did he never come to me? I wouldn't have lied to him if he had asked."

I shrugged and said, "Why don't you ask him yourself." I started to leave the room before turning back to look at him, "He's alone in the living room right now, Mom's in the shower, better hurry while you can." I headed back up to my room, I really needed to pack; I've been putting it off for a month now. Everything had to be packed; once I left the country I wasn't coming back until I found him. And I was going to find him; one way or another.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tao takes his final test and Luhan finally meets his soul-mate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to start off by thanking everyone that has bookmarked this or left kudos. I've decided to post the chapters that I have done every other day, then write a few more chapters and repeat the process. I don't have much for this chapter except that I can't do them justice at all.

I tried to slow my breathing as I waited for my turn. It seems that no matter how much I try to calm down, my heart won't slow, it feels like I'm having an adrenaline rush. I didn't think that my last test would be this nerve-wracking. I think it's just because I've got more than one person watching me - judging me. It's not something I'm used to, class is easy; everyone's doing the same thing at the same time and we're not being judged.

I took a deep breath as I stepped onto the mat, preparing myself for the inevitable. I moved my arms slowly, letting myself get the feel of the mat and the difference between this one and the ones we would practice on. We bowed to each other before getting into our positions, he took a step forward - testing defense as I took a step back, not wanting to be caught off guard. My nervousness fell away as we got into a rhythm of trying to find an opening on the other so I let my mind wander as I watched my opponent, I was never one to attack first, it's always better to get a feel of your opponent and to pinpoint their weaknesses.

I've often spent my time wondering what the boy might look like now that he's older. Is his hair still dark brown or did it fade to light brown or darken to black? Or did he dye it? Is his skin still pale or did he get tan? Are his eyes still that beautiful mix of dark and light brown? I can't wait to find out. I was brought out of my thoughts by a fist coming towards my face, I quickly blocked and countered with a kick towards his stomach. Sending him to the ground, I quickly took a step back to get out of his reach while I waited for him to get up. There's no sense in kicking a man while he's down; figuratively or literally. He got back up and got back in his stance, when he took a step forward I noticed that he was favoring his left ankle, he must have twisted it when he went down. So I decided that that's what I was going to go after, always better to keep focused on one point for the maximum amount of damage to one area.

I quickly swept my feet towards his, causing him to stumble, as he did this, I grabbed his foot and pulled it toward me so he fell forward and I rammed my hand, palm open, at his chest - stopping him in his tracks as he gasped for breath. Someone rang the bell, signaling that my test was over. I stood up straight before offering my hand to my opponent to help him up. We bowed to each other before he stepped off the mat and I waited for my result. My nervousness returned as they spoke quietly among one another. I would have done this years ago, but I got sick a lot as a child, I missed a class at least once a month.

My teacher stood up and we bowed to each other before he began to speak, "Mister Huang, you have shown us your skill and intelligence in ending the fight swiftly and without much injury. I am pleased to present you with your black belt." He reached behind him to grab one off of the small pile there and held it out for me to take. I went to grab it from him, bowing again as I did so, and he quietly added, "I hope you find what you are looking for in South Korea."

I smile at him before replying, "Thank you Sifu."

I was allowed to leave once the other tests were done as well, it was more out of respect for my fellow students than following the rules. I quickly changed in small locker room that was shared between boys and girls, apparently it wasn't very common for people to practice wushu in Ohio. so they only ever bothered with one locker room. The other students always made jokes about me taking the class, because I was born in China, moved here when I was three, and taking a Chinese martial arts class; apparently they thought all Chinese people automatically knew martial arts. I finish changing and grab my things before heading out to my car, excited to get home and tell everyone the good news.

"Guess who got their black belt today?" I ask as I walk through the front door.

"The boy next door?" Luhan jokes with a smile.

"Very funny Luhan," I say as I hang my keys on the peg by the door and take my coat off. "You know he's an asswipe that couldn't climb a tree without crying about a broken nail. He's more of a girl than your looks."

He laughs and gives me a hug, ignoring my jab at his girlish looks, as he says, "Congratulations, I'm proud of you."

I hug him back and look around, not seeing Mom or Dad. "Did they go out?" I ask as I pull away from him.

He nodded as we moved into the kitchen and answers, "Yeah, Dad got off of work early and decided to surprise Mom with a night out."

I smile as I reach into the fridge and take out a bottle of water. "That was sweet of him, I hope we have love lives like that."

"We will, " he says instantly. He turns to me with a smile and adds, "I've talked to him, by the way."

"You did?" I ask excitedly. "What is he like? Is he nice? What does he like to do? Tell me stuff!"

Luhan laughs at me and says, "Well, his name is Sehun -"

"He's Korean?" I interrupt.

"Yes, he's Korean," he laughs. "Stop interrupting. His nickname is Hunnie, cause a lot of people can't pronounce his name, he loves to dance, nothing special, he's really nice, and he loves to watch movies."

I grin at him, happy for him and say, "So you guys have things in common, that;s great! Is he still in school or graduated like us?"

"He'll be going into his senior year, he turns 18 in the middle of April," he replies. He looks giddy as he thinks about him. I'm glad he's so happy, he deserves it.

"I hope I'm as happy as you are one day," I tell him, going to leave the kitchen and head upstairs.

"Wait a minute!" he calls, making me stop. He comes up to me and asks, "Have you finished packing yet? I know you've been putting it off."

I give him a shrug, not telling him that I'm barely through my clothes. "It's coming along," I say instead.

"Liar," he says. "I was in your room earlier and you didn't even have a whole suitcase packed. Why is it so hard for you to pack? Don't you want to go? You can't go if you aren't packed."

"But it takes so much effort," I whine to him. "Can you help me? It'll go faster and be less boring; we can listen to music as we do it." I give him my best pleading look, hoping he'd give in.

He tries to look away, but I keep stepping into his line of site, not letting him get a second of peace. "Fine!" he exclaims finally. "But it'll have to wait until tomorrow, I have to get up early in the morning for a job interview, so we can do it when I get back."

"Thank you so much!" I hug him suddenly. I turn to go back upstairs, giving him a wave, "Night!"

"Actually go to sleep tonight, don't stay up all night listening to music," he calls up the stairs. "No wonder people call you a panda!"

"Whatever you say," I call before shutting my door, kicking some shoes out of the way. My room is a mess and I don't see any point in cleaning it when it's all going to be packed up. There are sunglasses, and shoes, and Gucci bags everywhere, my material love; Gucci. I get changed for bed, opting for sweatpants and a t-shirt, unlike the matching pajamas that Luhan likes. I don't really see a point for them, it's not like anyone is going to see me in my pajamas, and if they do, they shouldn't be uncomfortable with what I wear to bed.

I dream that night, about the boy and the first time we met. We were on a ferry to Bijin Island, a small island off the southern coast. I was excited to meet another kid my age that wasn't Luhan, we spent the whole ferry ride talking about what we did on our vacations so far. He told me how his mom and dad wouldn't let him climb one of the trees in a park back on the mainland and I told him how Mom didn't like me doing wushu. He got so excited when he heard that, because it was something he knew about. He wasn't taking any classes, but he had always wanted to and I even tried to show him a few moves. His Korean was horrible and when he told me that he was fluent in Chinese I started to talk to him in Chinese because it was easier, until Mom scolded me and told me to speak the native language of the country we were in.

When we got to the island, our parents decided to keep traveling together, we even camped together that night, it was on the beach, and that was the night I dreamed in color. I remember telling Mom and Dad so excitedly in the morning, they smiled indulgently, probably thinking I was imagining things, until the boy talked about the same thing. That's how we found out we belonged with each other; we got so excited that we started jumping up and down, until Luhan pushed us into the ocean. We got him back for that, eventually.


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up to my alarm; the shrill beeping waking me up in an instant. I reached over to shut it off, but I misjudged the distance and knocked it off my bedside table. Grumbling, I sat up, leaning over the side of my bed to grab the clock and finally silenced it as I put it back on my table. I wasn't even sure what time it was, I remember setting the alarm so I would wake up after Luhan was almost done with his interview, I'm just too tired to actually take the effort to see what my clock says. Stretching, I got up and made my way to the window, moving the curtain to see that the sun was close to the middle of the sky, meaning I had woken up before noon. I'm proud of myself.

Making my way down the stairs, I yawned. "Damn this insomnia," I muttered to myself. I always had trouble falling asleep, I think it might get worse when I move. It always gets worse when I'm in a new place, it'll probably take me about two weeks to get used to being there; Grandma and Grandpa are kind enough to let me stay with them until I get a job and can save up enough money to get a place of my own. I still don't know why they moved from Beijing to South Korea. I stumbled into the kitchen, rubbing my eyes as I hunted for my favorite cup; it had the word "love" in different languages all over it.

I started making myself some peppermint tea, putting the box back in it's hiding spot; Luhan liked to take my tea so I had to start hiding it. I wonder if SpongeBob is on, grabbing my fresh tea I made my way into the living room. Sitting on the couch, I grabbed the remote and switched it over to cartoons; happy to see that SpongeBob was on. I took a sip, settling into my spot on the couch, ready to pass the time.

Time moves so slowly when sitting on the couch, watching cartoons. The only reason I sat down was that SpongeBob was mind-numbing enough to make time fly by faster, but this one episode felt like it was taking two hours when it's only really been twenty minutes. I should really get up and stuff, but I'd much rather sit here and rot my brain while I wait. I wonder if his interview is going well, it might be done by now and maybe he's on his way home. I'm torn on whether I want him home or not, because I have to pack when he gets home, but I don't really want to.

I must have fallen asleep or something because the next thing I know is that I'm being shaken awake by Luhan; he's saying something but I'm too disoriented to understand until he repeats himself, "Why would you fall asleep with a cup of tea in your hands?"

I look down to see that I'm still holding it, I thought I had set it on the table. "Oops," I said. I set it down before adding, "At least I didn't spill it this time."

He stood back up, grabbed the remote from beside me and shut the TV off as he said, "Come on, time to pack, no getting out of it this time."

I groaned, getting up and trailing behind him up the stairs, almost tripping on the last step. We got to work separating and sorting everything once I was in the room, clothes in one pile, Gucci in another, and everything else in a third; my other things, like books, CDs, and movies were being sent a week after I left so I didn't have to pack those, Luhan would be doing that for me. I got my suitcase out of the closet and set it on the bed, opening it so he could start putting stuff in.

"You know your clothes aren't all going to to fit in here," he said, putting a pair of jeans in. "You couldn't fit all of your clothes in your car."

"I only planned on taking one case of clothes," I answered. "I figured I could donate what's left to Goodwill or something, I'm going to buy more once I get there and get settled in." I put a box on my bed, by the suitcase, and started putting bags in it, folding them so that they would all fit.

Luhan held a shirt up to his body and asked, "You wouldn't be against donating some of your clothes to your loving older brother?"

I took the shirt from him and folded it, putting it in my bag as I said, "First of all, I'm pretty sure all of my clothes are too big for you; I'm taller than you, and second, I wouldn't mind, but at least wait until I'm done packing."

He pouted before going back to the clothes, "Just because they're going to be big doesn't mean I can't wear them, I'll just adjust them."

I laughed, nodding, "Yeah, and you could have Mom hem all the jeans because they would just drag on the ground beneath you."

He threw my last bag at me in retaliation, saying, "I'm not that short, you're just freakishly tall." I taped up the box as he sat down on my bed with a huff. "Why do you have to be taller than me? I'm the older sibling."

"Don't you know?" I said. "Coffee stunts your growth."

He hit me over the back of the head as I tried to duck out of the way, going to grab my last shirt and putting it in my suitcase before shutting it. Two parts down, one to go. I just needed to pack the accessories, like my computer, iPod, and things like that. It went by fast, I'm really proud of myself, I didn't complain one time while packing.

"See?" Luhan said once we were done. "That wasn't so bad, you should have done it sooner."

"Only because you were here helping me," I answered. "It would have been so boring doing it all by myself."

"Oh whatever," he said. "Quit being such a baby, you're one step closer to finding your boy toy."

"Speaking of boy toys, when am I going to meet yours?" I asked, changing the subject. "I want to meet him before I leave Monday."

He stopped for a moment to think before saying, “I could see if he wants to come over tomorrow, it is Sunday so he doesn’t have school.”

“Do it,” I said immediately. “I expect to have a conversation with him before I leave and it better be a direct one.” He shoved me off the bed before leaving the room, “Hey! That wasn’t very nice!”

“It wasn’t supposed to be,” he called back, going downstairs. Probably to make himself something to eat, or call Sehun, I hope it’s to call Sehun. I got off of the floor and moved my boxes off of the bed, putting them against the wall by my door as I left the room. I made my way downstairs, Luhan was in the kitchen, I could hear him talking to someone; so he did call him, I couldn’t quite make out what he was saying so I quietly made my way to the doorway, not wanting to interrupt the conversation. Unfortunately, right as I got there he hung up the phone, turning around to see me standing there. 

“So?” I asked. “Was that him? What did he say? Is he coming over?”

“He can’t come over tomorrow because he has a family thing,” Luhan said. He leaves the kitchen, with me following, as he adds, “So he’s coming over today, I’m going to go pick him up now.”

“But that means that I have to get dressed,” I whined. “Do you know how long it takes me to get ready?”

He grabs his keys, ignoring my whining as he opens the front door and said, “You have ten minutes, that’s how long it will take me to drive to his house and back.”

He shut the door behind him and I ran up the stairs, going straight to my closet to grab a pair of jeans, one of the few I hadn’t packed, as well as a t-shirt and a pair of boxers before going to take a quick shower. I’ve never washed so fast in my life, I was out of the shower in three minutes, I’ve also never taken one so cold, I hadn’t taken the time to adjust the water. I opted for not drying my hair as that would take more time than i had left, and got dressed before leaving the bathroom, going to put my dirty clothes in the washer. I went back to the bathroom to brush my teeth and put on deodorant. I put on a small amount of eyeliner, I do love my eyeliner, and made my way downstairs as I heard the front door open. Luhan came in first, followed by a boy that was taller than him, with dyed blond hair and dark brown eyes.

Luhan shut the door behind them and looked up at me in surprise before saying, “I’ve never seen you move that fast. Ever.”

“Do you time me or something?” I asked as they took their shoes off. “How do you know I’ve never been this fast before?”

“Yes, your longest time was three hours and twenty minutes,” he replied immediately. He turned to the boy and said, “Sehun, this is my younger brother Zitao, -”

“Please call me Tao,” I interrupted.

“Stop interrupting me,” Luhan shot me a look before continuing. “Tao, this is Sehun.”

I bowed before saying, “It’s nice to meet you, I’m sorry that your soul-mate is such a jerk.”

He laughed, bowing as well, before saying, “It’s nice to meet you too, but he hasn’t been a jerk to me yet.”

“Just give it time,” I said as I dodge Luhan’s keys by running to the other side of the room. “You could have seriously hurt me!” I exclaim, turning to Sehun. “See what I mean? Whatever you do, don’t comment on his height or doe-like looks, he hates it,” I added as Luhan chased me around the couch. I jumped over it just as he was about to catch me, landing by Sehun. “So what lies has he told you about me?”

“Lies?” Sehun asked. “I don’t think he’s told me any lies, unless you knowing wushu was a lie or that you were moving to South Korea was a lie.”

“I would never lie about my family,” Luhan pouted. “I’m too proud of you to lie.”

“You’re proud of me?” I asked, my eyes tearing up. I go to give him a hug, but he takes a step back, quickly avoiding it. 

“Of course I’m proud of you,” he says. “I just don’t want you to hug me right now.”

“So what’s this about you wanting to meet me before you moved?” Sehun deftly changed the subject. “When are you moving?”

“My flight leaves Monday morning,” I answer him. “I wanted to meet you before I moved because I didn’t plan on coming back until I found my soul-mate again.” I go to sit on the couch, Sehun and Luhan doing the same.

“So you’ve met her before?” Sehun asked. “If you’re going to look for them again.”

“Him,” I said. “And yeah, once while we were on vacation as kids.”

Luhan seemed to think that this was enough conversing about sad things because he said, “Okay, you guys have met, now I think it’s time for Sehun and I to go do something, like go to the movies or something . . . Not with you,” he added as a second thought. 

“Well, I can tell when I’m not wanted anymore,” I muttered to myself, standing up. “It was nice meeting you Sehun, maybe you guys can come visit me sometime,” I add as I head back up to my room, hoping to sleep for the rest of the day, it was close to night time anyway, might as well just sleep until tomorrow. It’ll bring Monday closer.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been gone for a long time. I have to be honest...this chapter is not my greatest. I had actually put this story on hold for a while due to many things going wrong in my life, but I got an email the other day telling me that someone gave my story kudos and it made me very happy so I quickly finished this chapter for everyone to enjoy. This has not been proof read so I'm sure there's mistakes, please let me know if you spot any. Also, I'm having a hard time with the posting process, so what I should have italicized is not, please bear with me. Please enjoy!

Monday came sooner than I was ready for. We were all at the airport, waiting for my flight to start boarding, I was more nervous than I thought I would be. I don’t really think I’m ready to say goodbye to Luhan and our parents, not when I don’t know when I’ll be able to see them again.

  
“Now you’ve got everything you need?” Mom asked me, tears in her eyes. “Everything packed? You’re not forgetting anything?”

  
“Mom,” I said. “No, I’m not forgetting anything, yes, I have everything I need, and please don’t cry, you’ll make me cry.”

  
She laughed through the tears and said, “Oh honey, of course I’m going to cry, I’m losing one of my babies.”

  
I hugged her tightly, speaking in her ear, “You’re not losing me, I’ll call you at least once a week to tell you how things are going and to tell you how much I miss you and Dad and Luhan, maybe not Luhan,” I added with a laugh.

  
I pulled away from her to go hug Dad, he hugged me back just as tightly and said, “I know you’ll be able to find him, I’m so proud of you, going after what you want.”

  
“Thanks Dad,” I say pulling away.

  
I stand in front of Luhan, not sure if he’d want a hug from me until he pulls me into a hug that has me gasping for breath. “Good luck,” he whispers before standing back.

  
I smile at him as Mom speaks up, calmer now than earlier, “Now Grandpa is going to be meeting you at the airport in Seoul, Grandma won’t be with him because she works the late shift, but she’ll be there before you go to bed.” I nodded, acknowledging that I understood. “You remembered not to sleep last night, right?” She asked, continuing after I nodded again. “Good, I don’t want you to not be able to sleep once you get there, it’ll be close to nine by the time you get to your grandparents’ house.”

  
“I know Mom,” I said. “I spent the night making sure I wasn’t forgetting anything instead, I can assure you that I did not sleep.”

  
“Flight 192 to Seoul, South Korea, now boarding,” the intercom called.

  
Mom started crying again as I gather my carryon bag and gave them each another hug. “I love you guys so much, I’ll miss you all like crazy.”

  
I waved to them as I walked away, not daring to look back because I know I would start crying again and miss my flight because I ran back to them again. I had already gone through security so I didn’t have to worry about that, thankfully. I adjusted my bag as I show my ticket to the lady checking them before I make my way on to the plane, making sure I sat in the correct seat. There was a boy a couple of years older than me sitting in my seat, he was Korean and he looked terrified.

  
“Excuse me,” I said, causing him to look up at me. He looked surprised that I was speaking to him.

  
“Yes?” he asked, his voice was heavily accented. “Is something . . .wrong?” His English was terrible, so I decided to make it easier for him and switched to Korean.

  
“You’re sitting in my seat,” I said quietly, he seemed relieved at the language change.

  
“Oh, I’m sorry,” he says quickly. “Do you mind if we switch? I can’t sit in the window seat or I’ll be sick.”

  
He gave me a pleading look, which really worked because he looked a little more exotic than most Koreans, he didn’t have double eyelids for one, and two, his face was strangely adorable for someone older than me. This resulted in me quickly giving in.

  
“Okay,” I said, squeezing by him to sit in the window seat. “My name is Zitao, by the way, most people just call me Tao though.”

  
He grinned at me and said, “Thank you so much, I’m Minseok, but people call me Xiumin.” We would have bowed to each other if we hadn’t been sitting down, but neither of us were really willing to get up at the moment so it would have to wait until we got up when the flight landed. “So how did you know I spoke Korean?” he asked.

  
“I came to South Korea with my family every summer when I was younger,” I answered. “I know the accent.” He laughed as we both buckled our seatbelts, the plane getting ready to take off. “What made you visit the US if you seem to hate flying so much?” I asked, curious.

  
“Family,” he answers. The plane started to take off and he quickly grabbed my arm in a death grip. I looked over at him to see that he was clenching his teeth and his eyes were wide, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so scared before.

  
“Are you that afraid of flying?” I asked, losing the circulation below my wrist. “It’s not that bad.”

  
“It’s not so much the flying as it’s the taking off and landing,” Xiumin answered, his grip tightening slightly. “That’s when a lot of malfunctions occur.”

  
“If I give you something to cling to, could you let go of my arm?” I said slowly. “I can’t feel it anymore.”

  
He quickly lets go and says, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  
I reached into my bag and pulled out my favorite stuffed animal, a baby dragon, and handed it to him to hold onto. “Whenever I need something to hold onto I use this, I’ve had it since I was nine, he should help you.”

  
He quickly latched onto him and said, “Thank you, I’m not normally like this.” The plane levels out as we reach altitude and he adds, “It just brings out the kid in me.”

  
I shrug and say, “It’s okay, you should see me when I’m scared.” I settle into my seat and get ready for the long flight when Xiumin turns to me.

  
“If you don’t mind me asking,” he starts. “Why are you going to South Korea? You’re clearly not Korean, I can tell by your accent that you’re Chinese.”

  
“I don’t mind,” I say, watching the flight attendant make her rounds. “I met my soul-mate while on vacation when I was younger, I’m going to try and find him again, and I’m going to school too.” She’s almost here, I wonder if she’ll just skip over us because we aren’t speaking English. I really wouldn’t be surprised.

  
“Excuse me,” she says as she stops by us, I’m surprised she didn’t keep going. Her nametag read Jessie. “Is there anything you two need? Something to drink? A snack?”

  
“What did she say?” Xiumin asked. “I only understood part of that.” I relayed her question to him and he nodded and turned to her saying, “Water, please.”

  
She smiled and handed him a water bottle from the cart before looking over at me, waiting for me to tell her what I wanted. “Umm,” I said. “I think I’ll just have a bottle of water as well.”

  
After she left, Xiumin downed half his water and said, “Could you please wake me when we land? Please not before, I’m begging you.”

  
I nodded and said, “Of course, it makes the flight fly by.” I laughed at my own joke as he leaned back in his seat, settling in for a long sleep. I got my phone out and set an alarm that would wake me before the plane landed, making sure it was on vibrate before putting it back in my pocket and going to sleep myself.  
  
~*~*~*~

I woke up to my phone vibrating in my pocket as the plane was descending. I looked over at Xiumin to see that he was still fast asleep, he must have moved in his sleep because his head was on my shoulder. As the plane landed we were jostled a bit and he hit his head on the headrest and woke up, almost dropping Galaxy, my stuffed dragon in the process.

  
“What happened?” he asked, disoriented. “Are we there yet?” His hold on Galaxy tightened as he moved in his seat.

  
“We just landed,” I answered. I felt the plane pull up to the opening, the bridge coming out to meet it. “I guess I didn’t have to wake you up,” I added with a laugh.

  
He smiled and said, “I guess not, the plane did it for you.” He stretched in the seat before noticing he was still holding the dragon. “Thanks,” he said, handing him back to me. “He really did help.”

  
I took him back with a smile, putting him back in my bag as I said, “You’re welcome, maybe you should get a stuffed animal to help when I’m not here.”

  
“Nah,” he said with a shrug. “I’ll just call you every time I have to go on a plane, so I can borrow your dragon.” He laughed as he unbuckled his seatbelt when the light went off before adding, “Seriously though, you should give me your number so we can stay in touch and hang out some time.”

  
“Sure,” I said immediately, unbuckling as well. “Give me your phone and I’ll add my contact information.” He got his phone out, unlocking it before handing it to me, he stood up to grab his bag from the overhead compartment; he couldn’t reach his bag because mine had pushed his further back and he was too short. I finished adding my info before getting up to help him, “I didn’t realize you were so much shorter than me,” I said as I handed him his bag.

  
He gave me a look of false fury before he said, “Well excuse me, we can’t all be giants like you.” He adjusted his bag in his arms as I grabbed mine and he added, “Besides, smaller people always have the best hiding spots.”

  
“Oh really?” I asked. “The best hiding spots? For what? Hide and seek?” I laughed as we waited for the other people to get off of the plane. “At least tall people don’t need chairs to reach the cookies our parents always keep on top of the fridge,” I added after a moment.

  
We slowly started moving forward as he said, “Oh please, I don’t need the cookies when I can get the ice cream, and besides,” He stopped to reach up and ruffle my black hair. “You’ll be the first to know when the weather changes.”

  
I pouted as we finally exited the plane, heading down the walkway. “I’m not going to respond to that,” I said. After we got to the end, we both stopped for a moment; he quickly hugged me.

  
“Thanks,” he said. “For taking my mind off of the flight, it really helped me.”

  
“It was no trouble,” I said. He started to walk away so I shouted, “You better text me! I don’t have your number!”

  
“I will!” he shouted back as he kept walking, I turned and went the other way, ready to look for my grandpa.  
I quickly passed through customs, used to it from all the times I’ve visited before. I’ve never seen the airport this crowded, it was a little unsettling, to be around so many people. I grabbed my bags and made my way to the escalator, looking out for Grandpa as it went down. He was actually holding a sign, why did he have to be holding a sign? Especially one that said Kung Fu Panda on it. I quickly walked over to him once I was off the escalator, intending to make him put down the sign. I hugged him as soon as I reached him, pushing the sign down.

  
“I missed you Zitao,” he said as he hugged me tightly.

  
“I missed you too Grandpa,” I said, letting go. “But why did you have to put that on the sign?”

  
He laughed as he stepped back, saying, “I knew it would get your attention.” He grabbed one of my bags and we started to walk out of the airport to the car. “How are your parents? and Luhan? Are they well?”

  
“Mom and Dad are doing good, their anniversary is coming up,” I said, grabbing my bag from him so he could open the trunk. “Luhan is doing great as well, he actually met his soul mate the other day,” I added, putting the bags away.

  
“Really?” he asked as we got in the car and he started it. “Who’s the lucky man?”

  
I looked over at him in surprise as we left the airport parking lot and joined the highway before I asked,” How did you know it was a guy?”

  
He laughed, saying, “I figured that since your soul mate was a man then it was only logical that Luhan’s was as well, that’s how it usually happens with siblings, especially siblings of the same gender.”

  
“I never thought of that,” I said as I sat back in my seat. “So, how’s grandma? And how are you?”

  
“We’re both doing well,” he said. “Your grandmother actually decided that we needed to have a date night once a week, to keep the love alive or something,” he laughed as he switched lanes. “I think our love is fine the way it is.”

  
I smiled and replied, “Maybe she just wants you to dote on her again.”

  
He shrugged, “Oh! I almost forgot,” he added. “There’s something you need to know before we get to the house.” He glanced over at me and, once I nodded, he continued, “You’re grandmother and I rented out a room of the house to a young man around your age, he needed a place to stay when he moved here two years ago and he didn’t speak a lick of Korean, so your grandmother and I took him in, I think it might have been because we were some of the few people that spoke fluent Chinese that he accepted our help, his name is Yixing, but he likes to be called Lay, we have him in Luhan’s old room, the one next to your’s.”

  
“So what will you do if Luhan decides to visit?” I asked, curious about this new person, but also a little upset; this is my first time hearing about this. “Put him in my room with me?”

  
Grandpa shrugged, “Luhan hasn't visited recently and your grandmother and I can't work as much as we used to so we needed a new income source.”

  
I look down at my hands, a little ashamed at myself for overreacting. “I'm sorry, I'm sure I'm overreacting. What did you say his name was again?”

  
He smiles and pats my legs before answering, “his name is Yixing, he's much quieter than Luhan as well.”


	5. Update

To everyone that's been waiting for a new chapter, I'm so sorry that this is not that. My computer contracted a virus during the summer and I didn't have the money to get it fixed so I've been unable to write. Luckily! I got a new computer for Christmas, so I am happy to announce that I should have the next chapter out in less than a month, and I say a month because I work 3rd shift, and I sleep a lot, but anyway, to everyone that has been waiting patiently; I am sorry for your wait and it is almost over! Thank you for staying with me!


	6. Notice! Please read!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is an important notice.

Within the next few weeks I will be taking this story and giving it a rewrite. I know that it’s been almost a year and a half since I’ve last updated and I do apologize for that, but since then I’ve noticed that my writing style has changed and I don’t want to have a story that has two different styles in it. So I’m going to rewrite what I’ve already got posted so that it’s all in the same style and I would love some feedback from my readers on if there’s anything you’d like to see happen or anything you think I should add. Please leave a comment if you can think of anything! I’m open to ideas and love them!


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